1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a suspension apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In some suspension apparatuses, a knuckle is joined with the vehicle body with an upper arm and a trailing arm, the trailing arm joined with the knuckle is joined with the lower arm, and a wheel is supported on the knuckle in a freely turning manner.
In such suspension apparatuses, the lower arm is disposed along the vehicle width direction, and the outer end section is joined with the rear end section of the trailing arm with first and second joints.
The first and second jointing sections are disposed parallel to each other with a predetermined distance between them in the vehicle width direction, and elastically deformable rubber bushes are disposed such that their axes are arranged along the front-to-rear direction of the vehicle.
The rubber bushes are disposed such that their axes are arranged along the front-to-rear direction to allow elastic deformation in the front-to-rear direction of the vehicle. Accordingly, elastic compliance (allowing deformation and displacement to a certain degree for an input) in the front-to-rear direction of the vehicle is ensured.
In this way, for example, when the wheel runs over a bump while driving the vehicle, ride comfort can be improved by ensuring elastic compliance in the front-to-rear direction of the vehicle.
Elastic deformation of the rubber bushes in the direction orthogonal to the bush axes (i.e., vehicle width direction) is prevented. Accordingly, toe (toe angle) and camber (camber angle) of the wheel can be suitably maintained by maintaining rigidity in the vehicle width direction.
By suitably maintain the toe and camber of the wheel while driving the vehicle in this way, driving stability can be improved (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-195296).